The Noble Romance of Otters
by TheLostRelic
Summary: In which Annabeth and Percy go to the zoo, but Annabeth feels insecurities about their relationship, and Percy calms her down in only the way that he can. One-shot, post TLO.
1. The Noble Romance of Otters

**The Noble Romance of Otters**

"This is going to be _epic_!" Percy declared once the zoo employee snapped a neon green bracelet onto his wrist.

Annabeth peered at him cautiously from behind the worker. She wasn't so sure about going to the zoo with Percy. After all, it was only their second date with each other so she felt pretty self conscious about everything, but that apparently didn't apply to him, which only made her more nervous. Percy seemed supremely confident about everything, and that completely contrasted with how she felt.

As was her usual modus operandi, she second guessed, and then proceeded to triple guess everything about their relationship. Should she or should she not wear that more revealing tank top she bought on a whim from the store the other day? Would Percy think that she was exposing herself if she did or would he think she was too conservative if she didn't? Should she or should she not hold his hand as they walked into the zoo? Was that too clingy or was that a sweet romantic gesture that reassured him that she felt something for him?

There were too many questions that seemed to pop into her head almost endlessly in the infancy of their relationship, and as everyone knew, she _hated_ not knowing. Suddenly, boys, and Percy specifically, became a mystery that no woman could ever solve. Annabeth found herself reading into every single statement that Percy made, how he conducted himself when he was with her, and how he looked at other girls in her company.

The boy that she thought she knew became an enigma to her, and his every action seemed to baffle her in one way or another. For instance, when Percy would lean away from her, she interpreted that as a lack of attractiveness on her end. Anytime he so much as looked at another girl, she began to have visions of them riding off into the sunset, leaving Annabeth alone and heartbroken.

It was official.

The rational part of Annabeth decided to take a lovely vacation to the middle of sub-Saharan Africa whenever they came into contact after their Canoe Lake episode. They were officially a couple now, but calling Percy her boyfriend was just flat out weird. Not weird in the "ew, gross" sense, but weird in the "I don't understand what that means" kind of sense.

While she was thinking all this, the assistant had slapped on a matching neon green bracelet on her wrist as well, and Percy was eagerly tugging on her hand to make her walk faster so that they could go through the zoo. When she looked up, Percy was looking at her with concern and suddenly the ground became very interesting to observe.

_Oh look! A pebble! It's really small. Better watch out for that crack on the ground otherwise Athena will break her back. She'll probably break my back for being on a date with Seaweed Brain in the first place-_

"Wise Girl?" Percy asked, snapping her out of thoughts about the fascinating phenomenon that was the ground.

"Yes, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth replied, nervously tugging on one of her curls.

His brow furrowed adorably causing Annabeth's cheeks to redden imperceptibly. Percy said, "Is there anything wrong? You seem kinda out of it."

Annabeth shook her head furiously, sending her curls into a frenzy. "No! Nothing is wrong," she said quickly, but Percy didn't look convinced.

As usual, he didn't press her, and as usual, Annabeth felt grateful that he didn't. After all, it was very stupid to feel so nervous around him when she had no problem being around him for four years before that. The worst part is that Percy didn't look at all perturbed by their relationship, and that only made her feel more foolish and alone.

"Where do you want to go first?" Percy asked, and Annabeth read the sign for the first thing she could find.

"Lions."

Percy grinned at her in that lop sided manner of his, causing her heart to perform gymnastics. "Lions it is," he said brightly, and Annabeth nodded weakly, positive that she looked like a tomato due to all of her blush.

And so, Percy dragged her to go the lions, but Annabeth didn't really feel like she was into it. If Percy noticed, he didn't say anything, probably waiting for her to bring it back up again. Then they went to see the tigers, the elephants, the giraffes, the monkeys, and the rhinos, and the same process happened over and over again.

Annabeth could sense Percy's growing frustration, but he kept it very thoroughly hidden behind his enamored facade with the zoo. She could see that he genuinely loved the zoo and seeing all of the animals, and she felt bad that she was detracting from that experience because of her own insecurity/trust issues.

Finally, they stopped for lunch and snacked on pizza as they sat on the grass, watching ducks swim in a small pond. Annabeth watched Percy as he shoveled down at least five slices in the time it took for her to finish one. She wondered where all that food went - his stomach had to be as bottomless as Tartarus to fit all that in.

Percy met her eyes right as he hovered the sixth slice above his open mouth. The sight caused Annabeth to burst out laughing, and she felt that stress melt away temporarily when Percy also began to laugh.

When they stopped, Percy asked again, "Are you sure you're alright, Annabeth? You've been acting kind of strange ever since we walked into the zoo."

Yet again, Annabeth shook her head and waived it off, saying that it was no big deal.

Percy studied her closely for a minute before standing up to throw away their plates. Annabeth followed him with her eyes as he made his way to a garbage can, and nearly jumped out of her skin when a pretty brunette walked up to him, all giggly and flirty, and struck up a conversation with him. Red spots danced in front of her eyes as she watched the girl smile and giggle, twirling her hair with her finger in a very flirtatious manner. Her only solace was that Percy seemed to be absolutely bewildered as to why she was even talking to him in the first place.

The girl laughed and threw her hair back as she handed him something that was obscured from Annabeth's view and then left, practically running to her friends with a victorious smile on her face. Percy walked back with his hands in his pockets, a confused look on his face, but it vanished under a bright grin once he neared Annabeth.

"Ready to go see the marine animals, Wise Girl?" he asked, not mentioning his altercation with the other girl.

"Percy, who was that girl that came up and talked to you?" Annabeth asked, her voice quiet and taut with anger.

His brow furrowed in confusion once more and he glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the brunette. "Oh, you mean Tammi? She goes to school with me. I think she was my biology partner, but I can't say for sure. Anyhow, she was just wondering where I was since I left school midway through fourth quarter," and when Annabeth looked at him blankly, he rolled his eyes and said, "to fight Kronos."

Annabeth still regarded him suspiciously. "What did she give you?"

Percy fished into his pant pockets and retrieved a scrap of paper which he thrust into her hands. "I don't know. I couldn't really read her girly hand writing because of my dyslexia. Can you read it for me?"

Nodding, Annabeth opened the scrap of paper with a sense of dread growing in the pit of her stomach.

_212-432-5787 - Call me when u wanna ditch Blondie. ;) _

Her hands began to shake in rage as she subconsciously crumpled the paper in her hands, unaware that Percy was watching her closely the entire time.

"Well?" Percy asked carefully, testing the waters.

"It was nothing. She was just asking something about your school schedule for next year." Annabeth lied, gritting her teeth.

Percy shook his head, seemingly convinced, and the two of them made their way to the aquarium portion of the zoo. Annabeth could practically see the excitement wafting off of Percy as they walked closer, being increasingly palpable with every step they took. He was practically bouncing up and down with anticipation and began to talk really fast, in run on sentences.

"Omigosh my mom always took me here when I was a kid and I loved seeing all the animals and my favorite were the otters but I also really liked the penguins but I can't really decide between the two because they are just too darn cute and awesome and cuddly and I just wanna squeeze them because they look so squishy but that would really hurt them-" he rambled and Annabeth grinned, feeling her foul mood evaporate at his childishness.

As soon as they stepped into the aquarium, Percy ran over to a display, tugging on Annabeth's hand and crying out, "PENGUINS!", at the top of his lungs.

They went from display to display, Percy's excitement never waning, and it was so infectious that for a while, Annabeth felt at ease. It felt good not to think for once in her life about all the things that could go wrong.

Finally, they made it to the otter display and Percy was staring at them with wide eyes. To Annabeth, the otters kind of just looked like hot dogs with feet, but apparently, Percy thought that that they were the greatest thing to ever happen to the universe. His face was pressed up against the glass, and despite his height, he looked like a five year old.

The thought brought a smile to Annabeth's face, but it fell when she felt the crumpled scraps of Tammi's phone number in her pocket which seemed to burn hot against her skin. She felt guilty about not telling Percy that she had written her phone number on the paper. After all, she had no right to prevent him from calling her if he "wanted to ditch Blondie". The thought made Annabeth queasy, and so she sat down on a bench, watching her boyfriend gaze awestruck at the otters swimming about in the pool.

She started to zone out, thinking about scenarios in which Percy could potentially leave her for some other girl. Having just come out of the whole Rachel debacle, Annabeth still wasn't too trusting of other girls around Percy. She was cognizant of the fact that her boyfriend was like the greatest thing to happen to girls since sliced bread, but she also recognized that Percy was a guy and that he had... _needs_; needs that she might not exactly be able to provide for if push came to shove.

What if Percy wanted their relationship to move quickly and Annabeth couldn't accommodate his desires? What's to say he wouldn't find someone who could? After all, with his looks, he could get a new girlfriend in an hour. She didn't think she could bear it if he moved on like that, but she also couldn't bear the thought of doing things that she wasn't comfortable with.

Annabeth nearly jumped out of her skin when Percy took her clammy hand in his own warm one as he sat next to her, looking into her eyes with concern.

"Wise Girl, please tell me what's wrong," he begged, and Annabeth finally submitted.

Annabeth began to ramble, "I'm just worried about us, I guess. I'm really new to all of this, and I don't know what I'm doing ninety five percent of the time, and the other five percent, I'm kissing you. I can't help but feel like you could just leave me for someone else because you're you and I'm me. What if I'm not enough for you? It's really stupid, but that's all that I'm thinking about lately."

For a while, Percy just sat there quietly, massaging small circles on her hand that sent sparks of electricity shooting throughout her body before he sat back and looked at her.

"Wanna know something cool about otters?" he asked, and Annabeth frowned.

"Percy, I'm really not in the mood to learn about otters," Annabeth said with a tinge of exasperation coloring her voice.

Percy continued as though he hadn't heard her, "Well since you asked, when otters fall asleep, they fall asleep holding hands so that they don't wake up alone, without their otter buddy," he explained animatedly, and Annabeth looked back at him blankly.

He swallowed, feeling suddenly self-conscious. "Ever since I was a little kid, I always liked the otters because they seemed to love each other so much, you know. It used to make me think of me and my mom, and how we would always stick together no matter what. But ever since I met you, I realized that you were my _true_ otter buddy," he said, and a slow smile formed across Annabeth's face.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I can't imagine a world without you, and I'll hold onto you like an otter because I don't want to wake up, floating all by myself without you," he continued, and sank to one knee, staring straight into her eyes, "so will you, Annabeth Chase, be my otter buddy?"

Annabeth face split into a giant grin and she hurled herself at Percy, causing him to fall backwards. She took his face in her hands and kissed him passionately, feeling all of her insecurity leave completely.

When she tore herself away, Percy stared up at her, disheveled and out of breath. "Woah, I was just expecting a hug or something, but that works too," he said breathlessly, causing Annabeth to laugh.

She took Percy's hand and yanked him up off the ground. "Of course I'll be your otter buddy, Seaweed Brain," she said, and Percy grinned down at her.

That day when they left the zoo, they walked back home hand-in-hand because otter buddies never let go.

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone! Another one shot attempt, but this kind of came out floppy. See, this is what happens when I try to write a happy light story - it ends up like a floppy pancake or a soggy waffle. I swear the idea sounded better in my head. If Annabeth seems out of character, I don't think she is because anyone would be insecure that early in a relationship, and I think given her thought process, she would probably react like that. **

**That is a true fact by the way - Otters do in fact hold hands when they sleep so that they don't drift away from each other. I think that's adorable. Anyhow, if you liked the story: Follow, Favorite, and Review!**


	2. Guest Reponse

**So, this is in response to the giant post that a guest wrote concerning the "Signed Nerdy Boys" post on my profile. Obviously, posting a chapter on this is going to be a bit tacky. As a general rule of thumb, please feel free to call me out on my point of view, but at least make it possible for me respond directly via PM. There's somewhat of a bad habit on this site of leaving provocative statements on stories as a guest, which frustrates me to no end. If there's something you find offensive/disconcerting/dislikable, I would prefer to communicate my opinions to clear up any misunderstandings. Not calling that individual out in particular, but just as a general public service announcement. **

Dear Guest,

I think that you've kind of missed the boat on the post. I'm not telling people who they should date or find attractive; my point was that judgments concerning desirability shouldn't be made at face value. Particularly, I was writing concerning girls that act pompously towards guys as if they were disgusting or didn't deserve to be talking to them because there _are_ people like that. Ultimately, it's a question of openness, maturity, and understanding. I made it very clear that you are entitled to your own opinions considering romantic attachment, but you do not have a right to be a jerk or bigot about it.

Concerning seeking out approval from the opposite gender: that cuts both ways. In fact, much of this cuts both ways. My goal was to communicate this from the perspective of an anonymous guy. It's hard talking to people of the opposite gender for many of both genders, but my point wasn't necessarily to single out girls and point blame as much as it was about appreciating that effort. There are those that talking comes naturally too, and as such, they can be a bit cruel and ignorant towards others struggle with it.

I won't pretend to know what girls want, but biologically it's an undeniable fact that you are evolutionarily programmed to look for males that are attractive. That's the same for guys too. Again, it's not calling out your gender, it's just that way because I am a guy writing from that perspective. The point is to preach open-mindedness, that it doesn't just stop with looks. Obviously, the vast majority of humans think that's idealistic, but the happy ones _are_ the ones that realize that looks aren't everything. There's a fascinating TED talk on the subject given by a fashion model that you should definitely look up given the chance.

Honestly, I would be very impressed if you considered yourself to be mature as a teenager; I know I don't. I'll actually come out and say it:_ you are not mature_. I don't care how much you think you are, but you haven't seen enough, learned enough, lived enough, or loved enough, and that's just a function of time. Wisdom and maturity are accumulated over time, so I find it implausible to consider a "mature" teenager. Sure, figuratively/relatively you might be more mature than your peers, but that doesn't make you mature. This means a whole litany of things, but one of the things that I am primarily concerned with is that these are formative years where a lot of opinions and judgments can stick. It's harder to become a gay marriage supporter when you've been conditioned against it since childhood. Obviously, you can change as you learn more, but there's always a risk that you don't. The post is a forewarning against that, to avoid being entangled in the mire of appearance - I challenge everyone to go one step beyond that.

I'm glad you caught on the point that this was meant to be impressionable; it is. That's the point. Because people need to learn from a young age to broaden their horizons. It's like learning how to share when you're in Kindergarten. It has to happen now before it happens later. All teens need to realize two things: 1. The world doesn't revolve around you and 2. You don't know nearly as much as you think you do. I get routinely taught that despite my views and knowledge, there's always more to process, to learn, to understand. It's not as shallow as me telling you: "Go date that nerd boy over there." That's far too reductionist a view of a far deeper concept. It's like reducing the Civil Rights Movement to "Don't hurt that African American person over there!" No, it's about being treated and viewed equally, not just about stopping the violence, but reforming the bigotry and the hate. Obviously this isn't nearly as grand as the Civil Rights Movement, but it's a comparable analogy.

By all means, feel free to like whomever you wish, either platonically or romantically. My point is that you can't disqualify a person without getting to know them. I don't think that's condescending at all; that's just basic human courtesy. Wasn't it Martin Luther King who once said, "I dream of a day that my children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character_." _Well, then I guess I have a dream too: I have a dream that one day, we will not judge based off of outward appearance, but by content of character. I think we owe that much to each other.

**I hope this helped, Anonymous Guest! Feel free to PM me for more clarification, and I hope you get a chance to see this. With any luck, it will help clarify my position. **

**On a side note, next Chapter of Wolf's Law should be out this weekend! I have been bogged with AP Exams this week, so forgive me. I actually have Government and Comparative Politics tomorrow, but the inner debater in me won't let me sleep till I respond to the message. Oh derp! It's 1:15. Time to sleep. I'm tired. AP tests suck. That will be all. **


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